Syringes



MAURICE JULLIARD M. JULLIARD sept. 23, 1958 SYRINGES v Filed Oct. 4,1956 United States Patent() SYRINGES Maurice Julliard, Paris, FranceApplication October 4, 1956, Serial No. 613,957

7 Claims. (Cl. 12S-218) This invention relates to hypodermic syringesand smilar surgical instruments for injecting liquids and it has for itsprimary object to provide a syringe which .can be manipulated with greatprecision and with little eiort, the movements of the parts of thesyringe and especially the advance of the piston, and the direction ofadvance of the injection needle being iinely regulable to an extentwhich hitherto rhas not been obtainable.

A principal object ofthe invention consists in providing a syringe witha piston the movement of which in both directions is not produced by theoperator ofthe syringe, but is mechanically produced and'is derived froma rotary movement transmitted from an external source of such movement.

Another principal object of the invention consists in providing aninjection needle arrangement permitting adjustment of the angularposition `of theinjection needle relatively to the body of the syringeand relatively tothe direction of the piston movement therein, saidarrangementalso including a resilient connection between the injectionneedle and the syringe body which simultaneously also acts as a seal ofthe syringe after adjustment of the needle.

Further objects of the invention and further characteristics of the samewill be apparent from the following` detailed specification.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing by way ofexample. It is however to be understood that the embodiment of theinvention which has been illustrated by wayV of example has beenselected with a view of explaining the principle of the invention andthe best mode of applying said principle. Other applications of the sameprinciple will readily occur to theexpert in this field when followingthe directions contained in the following specification.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is an elevational view in longitudinal section of a syringeaccording to the invention.

Fig. 2 is an elevational cross sectional view of the syringe illustratedin Fig. 1, the section being taken along line II-II of Fig. l. Y

Fig. 3 is an elevational .cross sectional view, the section being takenalong line III-III of Fig. 1.

As seen in the drawing the body 1 of a hypodermic syringe is providedwith a bore in which the piston 2 reciprocates, which piston may or maynot be provided With sealing means, such as the piston rings 3. Near theinjection needle carrying end the body 1 is provided with a threadedportion, the threads of which are engaged by a retaining sleeve 4eng-aging and holding, by means of an inwardly projecting flange, theoutwardly projecting flange of a cap 5 with a semi-spherical endportion. The

cap tits tightly over the end portion 9 of the body 1. The

semi-spherical end portion of the cap is provided with a slot 6. Itforms the seat of a spherical injection needle holder 7 which ispreferably made of a resilient or elastic material, such as syntheticrubber or a polyethylene plasice tic. This ball shaped needle holder isprovided with a diametrical bore through which the injection needlepasses and in which it is rmly held.

When the needle is in operative position the end 9 of the syringe bodyis pressed firmly against the needle holder 7 by the retaining sleeve 4,holding the needle holder and the injection needle in the desiredangular position, the resilient needle holder forming a sealing element,sealing the bore of the syringe body.

It will be understood that this injection needle carrying arrangementpermits orientation of the injection needle in any desired directionover a wide angle, by turning the injection needle within the slot andby turning the body of the syringe around its axis. To produce theangular adjustment of the needle it is only necessary to loosen or tounscrew the retaining sleeve 4, thus relieving the pressure on the ballshaped needle holder 7, which may then be turned in the desireddirection. When the retaining sleeve, after adjustment of the needle isagain tightened the elastic ball shaped needle holder 7 is rmly appliedagainst the end 9 and seals the end of the bore, of the syringe body,all parts being again rmly held in their selected position.

The other end of the body may be provided with an enlargement ofhexagonal cross section (Fig. 3) or any other cross section permitting airrn grip, said enlargement having internal threads which engagecorresponding threads provided on a sleeve like projection from a gearhousing 10. The said sleeve may hold a key member 11 which projectsinwardly and which engages a longitudinal groove of a spindle carryingthe piston 2. The spindle is of the type generally used for lead screwsand is provided with helical square threads extending over a suitablelength, which length depends on the stroke of the piston and on thelength of the gear case 10. On both sides of the threaded portion of thespindle a portion of the spindle 13, 14 respectively, of reduceddiameter is provided. The end of the spindle carries a knob 15 whichpermits m-anual operation of the piston in the conventional manner.

The gear case 10 houses an essentially cylindrical shaftxlike rotarymember 16 which is provided with an internal bore of a diameter which issubstantially equal to the outer diameter of the threads of the spindle12. This member is integral with or txedly carries a worm wheel 17. Thegear case further houses a worm 1S meshing with the work wheel 17. Theworm is mounted on a shaft 19 which projects outwardly (Fig. 2) andwhich is provided with means for coupling it `with the flexible shaftwhich is driven by an external source of regulable rotary motion, forinstance from the turret or equipment stand `such as used in connectionwith a dentists chair with which the exible shaft may be connected. Withsuch an equipment the speed of rotation of the drive means of thelexible shaft is nely adjustable by means of a footpedal which regulatesthe driving motor of the turret or stand. f

The rotary member 16 carries a drive piece in the shape of a half-nut 21with internal threads engaging the helical square threads of the spindle12. rl`his drive piece may be mounted on a small longitudinal spindlewithin a suitable cut-out portion of the member 16.

The spindle 20 around which the drive piece 21 in the shape of ahalf-nut may be rocked is preferably in an eccentric position relativelyto the axis of the half-nut and spindle, as seen in Fig. 2, so that thehalf-nut may be swung out of engagement with the threads of the spindle12. When out of engagement with the half-nut the spindle may bemanipulated in the .conventional manner by forcing the piston downmanually towards the needle 3 carrying end of the body 1, by applicationof pressure on the knob 15.

When the driving half-nut 21 is in engagement with the threads of thespindle 12, it advances the spindle by its rotation with the member 16which is journaled within the gear case in suitable bearings. As shownthe front bearing may be a removable member fixed on the gear case bymeans of screws, to permit insertion and withdrawal of the member 16.The spindle 12 will be held against rotation by the key member 11 whichis held in its position by the gear case or which is merely a part ofthe gear case.

It will be clear that when during rotation of the spindle one of theportions with reduced diameter ismoved under the half-nut any furthermovement of the spindle 12 and of the piston is automatically stopped.

If the speed of rotation of the work 18 .and shaft 19 can be controlled,it is possible to regulate and control nely and precisely in any desiredmoment the speed with which the liquid is injected. The control of thisspeed by variable pressure on knob 15 becomes unnecessary and theoperator of the syringe is relieved of the task to pay constantattention to the pressure which he has to exert on the knob. Further,the use of the syringe is greatly simplied and improved by the angularadjustment of the position of the injection needle. In many cases theposition of the instrument is prescribed by the available space or bythe relative position of the patient and the operator, but does notcoincide with the direction in which the needle should penetrate or theliquid should be injected by the resilient needle carrier which permitsa very line and precise adjustment and orientation of the needlerelatively to the direction of the piston advance. This disadvantage iscompletely eliminated.

It is of special importance that a completely regular and gradualmovement of the injection needle and discharge of the liquid injectedthrough the needle occurs, as this reduces greatly or eliminates thepain caused by the injection and especially that produced by the suddenpiercing of the tissues.

It will be clear that changes of an unessential nature may be madewithout departing from the essence of the invention as defined in theannexed claims.

Having described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. A surgical syringe for injecting liquids, comprising a hollow syringebody, a piston longitudinally movable therein, an injection needle atone end of said syringe body, means for adjusting the angular positionof the needle relatively of the syringe body, means for moving saidpiston longitudinally within said syringe body, said means includingrotary means mounted on the said syringe body, adapted to be coupledwith an external rotary drive means, a member connected with the pistonmounted for a rectilinear movement within said syringe body and meansfor converting the movement of said rotary means into a translatorymovement of said member.

2. A surgical syringe for injecting liquids, comprising an elongated,hollow syringe body, a piston longitudinally movable therein, a hollowinjection needle mounted at the end of the said hollow springe body, anadjustable needle carrier, movable angularly relatively to the hollowsyringe body to adjust the direction of the needle, means fo'r drivingsaid piston mechanically from an external rotary drive means, rot-arymeans mounted on the syringe body, adapted to be coupled with the saidrotary drive means, and means for converting the rotary movement of therotary means into a rectilinear longitudinal movement of the piston.

3. A surgical syringe as claimed in claim 2 wherein the needle carrierconsists of a body of rotation and is rotatably held and adjustableWithin `a slotted cap closing the end of the hollow body of the syringe,and wherein the injection needle, held by said needle carrier, projectsthrough the slot of the cap, within which the angular position of theinjection needle relatively to the body of the syringe may be freelyadjusted.

4. A surgical syringe as claimed in claim 2 wherein one end of theelongated hollow syringe body is closed by a detachable 4cap providedwith a slot, and means are provided to attach said cap to the syringebody and to draw the cap towards the said body, when attached, andwherein the needle carrier is ball shaped and is provided with adiametrical bore within which the injection needle is held passingthrough said bore, and.projecting outwardly through the 'slot in thecap, said ball shaped needle carrier being of resilient material andbeing drawn with the cap towards the end of the hollow syringe body whenthe cap is attached, said ball shaped needle carrier body forming asealing means for the hollow syringe body.

5. A surgical syringe for injecting liquids, comprising a hollow syringebody with a piston therein, a spindle driving said piston, provided withthreads and held against rotation, rotatable means for advancing saidspindle longitudinally within said syringe body adapted to be coupledwith an external rotary drive means, said rotatable means including ahollow rotatable sleeve member surrounding said spindle and carrying ahalf-nut with internal threads engaging the threads of the spindle, saidsleeve member further carrying a worm wheel engaged by a worm rotatablymounted on the syringe body and driven by a shaft adapted to be coupledwith the external rotary drive means.

6. A surgical syringe as claimed in claim 5 wherein the internallythreaded half-nut is mounted on an axle and is adapted to be swungthereon to disengage the internal threads from the spindle threads, thusfreeing the spindle, and wherein the said spindle is provided with aknob at its end for manual operation of the piston when References Citedin the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Cournand May 16, 1922Geinstein Mar. 18, 1930 Campkin Ian. 22, 1935

